Stimulate the Senses – Fall Sensory Bin

I have a confession. I “may” be going overboard with these sensory bin ideas and you will be seeing a TON more on the blog. But honestly my son absolutely LOVES them and I really enjoy making them for him.

If you don’t know what a sensory bin is – it’s basically a small plastic bin full of different materials that stimulate the various senses {touch, smell, hear, see and sometimes taste} and allow the child to explore in a small contained area.

Sometimes these bins have a theme but they don’t necessarily have to have one. I personally love the ideas of doing themes though so I can center them around books & certain holidays. I like to tie things in so it’s like a full day of learning.

Besides keeping my son occupied for a good 30 minutes – sensory bins are great for developing his fine motor skills, thinking skills, vocab and also giving him a creative outlet, with problem solving as well. Best part is that a lot of times you can find the materials/supplies for the bins for cheap and you can reuse them in several different themes.

Last week I shared a Pirate Treasure Hunt one and today I’m tackling my favorite season – fall.

This Fall Sensory Bin is pretty easy to pull together and a lot of the items I found at my local Dollar Tree. For the price I can’t complain AND I already know I can use some of the supplies for future bins as well. {like Thanksgiving}

Supplies:
* Large Plastic Bin
* Unpopped Popcorn Kernels {plain}
* Various Small Plastic Pumpkins/Gourds {dollar tree}
* Plastic Leaves {dollar tree}
* Small Scarecrow
* Plastic Acorns
* Cookie Cutter Shapes that spell “Harvest”
* Plastic Scoops/Tongs

Directions: Throw all your materials in the bin. Mix it up and hand it over! Grab some autumn themed children’s books to tie the theme together!

Check out these other fun sensory bin ideas:
Ocean Sensory Bin
ABC Sensory Search
Dinosaur Dig Sensory Bin